Find out What Pleases the Lord

     When you fall in love--when you love someone with all your heart-- you try to learn everything you can about that person. You want to know what he/she likes, what makes him/her happy. Then you act on what you have learned. The same is true when we love God with all our heart. In Eph 5:10, the Apostle Paul urges us to find out what pleases the Lord. So lets dig into God's Word to explore this topic

(Heb 12:2) Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

     We normally look at this Scripture to find encouragement to endure our own trials. However, I want to look at this Scripture from a different angle. The author of Hebrews tells us that Jesus endured the pain, trauma, and shame of the cross for “the joy set before him.” I am making the connection that if we know what brings joy to Jesus, we will discover what pleases Him. Have you ever thought about what that “joy” might have been? The Apostle John gives us a glimpse of Jesus' future and our future in the book of Revelation.  In that glimpse we can see something that gives Jesus great joy.

(Rev 19:6-9a) Then I heard what sounded like a great multitude, like the roar of rushing waters and like loud peals of thunder, shouting:

“Hallelujah!

For our Lord God Almighty reigns. Let us rejoice and be glad and give him glory! For the wedding of the Lamb has come, and his bride has made herself ready. Fine linen, bright and clean, was given her to wear.”

(Fine linen stands for the righteous acts of the saints.)

Then the angel said to me, “Write: blessed are those who are invited to the wedding supper of the Lamb!”

(Rev 21:2-7) I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying ‘Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and will be their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.’ He who was seated on the throne said, ‘I am making everything new!’ Then he said, ‘Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.’ He said to me: ‘It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. To him who is thirsty I will give to drink without cost from the spring of the water of life. He who overcomes will inherit all this, and I will be his God and he will be my son.’

            What was Jesus thinking about as He endured the cross? He was thinking about you and me, and the many others who would choose Him over all the other enticements and relationships in this world! He was looking forward to living together with us in a time and place where sin will no longer have any power to separate us. He created us for perfect, pure fellowship with Him, and He endured torture of body and soul, coming forth victorious from the tomb in order to destroy the wall of sin that was separating us from that fellowship with Him! More than any works we can do, more than our best efforts to rid our lives of sin, more than our songs and prayers -- what pleases Jesus is when our hearts crave Him above all else! When we lose sight of this truth, our works can become legalistic, our avoidance of sin can be self-help strategies, and our songs and prayers become stale.

What pleases the Lord?  Intimacy with us!